Notes/Restrictions

Open to Gallatin first-year students only.

Description

In a 1959 lecture titled “The Two Cultures,” C. P. Snow famously declared, “the intellectual life of the whole of western society is increasingly being split into two polar groups,” with “literary intellectuals at one pole—at the other scientists.” Snow asserted that the two are separated by “a gulf of mutual incomprehension,” even “hostility and dislike.” Snow’s view of a fundamental antagonism between science and literature has its roots in the nineteenth-century; his concept of “two cultures” remains influential today. But was he right? This course addresses that question, seeking to deepen our understanding of the relationship between science and literature. Our readings will pair literary and scientific texts: we may consider Thomas Pynchon’s fiction and the laws of thermodynamics; Michael Frayn's play _Copenhagen_ and quantum physics; Allegra Goodman’s novel _Intuition_ and sociological theories of scientific competition. Assignments will include analytical papers as well as opportunities for students to create their own literary responses to science.